If you were to ask most salespeople about the quality of the leads they get from marketing, they would probably tell you that they are suspects at best. And of course that depends on what your definition of what a suspect is. It’s important to start with a clear definition of exactly what defines a suspect, a prospect, and a lead. The following article does just that, and also outlines how to move your suspect to a sales qualified opportunity. Suspects. What do they want? Suspects are more concerned about what you know not so concerned with what you sell. Things like: Infographics. Blogs. MORE >>

Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife. Sometimes I am making a speech and I realize that I am meeting a lot of traditional marketers–people my age (or even I admit, a little younger) who are trying to make the adjustment to digital. And as I am speaking, and explaining concepts, and exhorting people to take a chance and make a change, I realize something. The people that are sitting in front of me are going to be fine. It’s the folks that don’t want to listen that are screwed. The people in the audience asked great questions. They paid attention. Or Twitter. Or YouTube. MORE >>

Several weeks ago I was in New York City doing a workshop for a client. left early to meet with the VP of Sales before the session began. At the front desk of the hotel, when I asked for directions to the coffee shop, I discovered it was almost eight blocks away -- which was a shocker since I thought it was just around the corner. Now I was going to be late. So, I called Herb to let him know that I was walking as fast as I could. When I got him on the line, he said, "Get a cab. It'll just take a minute.". That's okay," I replied. I like to walk.". But here's the truth. am a total taxi failure. MORE >>

Marketers can immediately increase their campaign success by using metrics and a payment model that is closer toward the end of the sales funnel. A “sale” is more valuable than a “prospect” A “prospect” is more valuable than an “viewer” In direct and online marketing, if a campaign is very targeted and also uses a model that only incurs cost if they get a customer or prospect to take an action, such as purchase a product or sign up for a service, it’s guaranteed that those advertising dollars will be well spend. MORE >>

Landing pages are a critical tool for meeting your ever-increasing lead generation goals. Actually, only 8% of marketers reported that dedicated landing pages were ineffective , according to MarketingSherpa's 2011 Landing Page Optimization Benchmark Report. I'm not sure what those 8% are doing, but the effectiveness of landing pages for the other 92% of marketers hinges on one component that isn't often discussed -- visitors have to trust you enough to give away their personal information on your landing page forms to obtain your offers. 10 Ways to Earn Your Landing Page Visitors' Trust. MORE >>